Belladonna Black and the Forgotten Crypt
by BelladonnaCarinaBlack
Summary: After a summer of denial and secrets from the adults, it is clear that the threat of the Book of Necromancy has not passed. The shadow of the events of last school year still hang over the castle, and threaten to reveal the hidden cracks in the lives of Belladonna Black, James Potter, and their compatriots. Book Two in the Belladonna Black Saga
1. Memories

**Messers. Moody, Spitfire, and Sprat**

 **Purveyors of Aids to the Harry Potter-Starved**

 **are proud to present**

 **Belladonna Black and the Forgotten Crypt**

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 **www. BelladonnaBlack .wordpress .com**

 **Authors' Note: The authors of this book have made one intentional departure from established cannon as of March 2016. The birth of The Potter Children has been moved up a few years to facilitate the plot. In this Fanfic, only the books and the movies where they do not conflict with the books are considered canon, but details from Pottermore, interviews, and other sources will be included where possible.**

 **We do not own Harry Potter. Obviously.**

Memories

The four men in silver masks swept up the drive to the little house, and the gate swung open with a flick of the leader's wand. A frightened man's face flashed at the window, before he drew the curtains tightly over the glass. He swung around to see his wife and young daughter working on a puzzle of a basket of wriggling puppies in front of the fire, oblivious to the danger behind the drapes.

He crossed the room in two long strides. Scooping up the small girl in his arms, the man hid her in the first place he saw-the open closet filled with puzzles and games. Thinking quickly, the woman gathered the unfinished puzzle with her wand and returned it to its shelf. Before closing the door, she knelt before her daughter, smoothing a piece of hair away from her small face. "Sweetheart, you need to be quiet, no matter what you hear. Can you promise Mummy?" The child nodded, gazing at her mother with wide puzzled eyes, not quite knowing whether to be frightened or not by this new game. She curled up in the corner, strips of light from the slats in the door falling across her fragile frame.

A blast from the lead wizard's wand, the one with a fleur de lis pattern on his mask, turned the once sturdy door of the cottage into a shower of splinters that splattered the thick carpet. The boots of the four men crunched through the jagged mulch toward the pair cowering near the back wall. A casual flick of one of their wands caused the couple's only weapons to clatter into the far wall before falling to mingle among the other discarded bits of wood.

The shortest man, one with a dragon patterned mask, dragged the woman by her hair to the center of the room, before depositing her at the leader's feet. "You run the grocers at this little…village, do you not?" he asked in a calm voice that belied the savagery of their entrance.

"Y-yes," the woman stammered, her eyes darting between her captors, as if futilely searching for an escape route.

He smiled behind his mask, "Yesterday, a young woman with rather unfortunate brown hair bought several items from your shop, including Essence of Dittany, did she not?"

Tremors running through her body, the grocer replied, "Many people come into my store every day. I do not remember them all." He nodded at the man in the dragon mask, who muttered " _Crucio_ ," causing the woman to collapse and send screams ricocheting around the room and into the closet where her little girl curled up into an even tighter ball but did not make a sound.

When her screams died down the wizard continued speaking in his calm voice. "I would suggest you answer my questions. If you lie, my associate here will be forced to loosen your tongue and that would be unfortunate. Now, with your memory refreshed, the girl."

Her voice still raw, the woman babbled answers to the questions quite willingly for several minutes. Yes, there had been a girl. She had been alone, but bought a copious amount of food and several unusual other things, but the woman did not remember exactly what they had been. She had shoved the items into a little bag before leaving the shop hastily. There had been nothing overly odd about her, except for the fact that she had been slightly dirty, as if she had not showered in a few days.

"Where did she go after she left your shop?" the wizard continued to probe.

"The woman, confused, blinked up at him. "She turned left down the street. Never saw her again." She could not see his eyes through the mask, but he nodded. She started to shake, "No that's all I know she just…" Her protests were cut off by screams.

"That girl was Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's mudblood. _Where did they go!_ "

"She just left…never said more than five words…please!" But the man nodded again. Soon the woman had no voice left to scream and only shook her head weakly in response. Eventually even that small response faded into motionlessness.

The fleur de lis masked wizard prodded the still form with the toe of his boot, but received no response. "That was a waste of my time," he muttered as he strolled out the open door, carelessly crunching her discarded wand under his heel on his way. His three shadows trailed him down the path, and echoed the quiet crack of wood as he left the ruined home. After they had left, the spell that had pinned the father to the far wall lifted, and he rushed over to the closet. True to her word, the small girl rocked in the corner, tears streaming down her plump cheeks without a sound. Daughter in one hand and wand in the other, the distraught man ran down the drive, never to return to the empty house again. "S-she should have just told them," he sobbed, burying his face in the girl's soft brown hair. He glanced back at the house one last time, muttering, "What does she owe him anyway? If she'd just…" before disapparating into the night.

Fourteen years later, the man who had once worn a fleur de lis mask during the midnight raids that had terrorized the countryside, was feverishly flipping through the notes he had transcribed so long ago. It had turned out to be nearly impossible to access the grounds of Hogwarts, and the wizard was forced to consider unorthodox methods. The problem had been stealing his sleep for weeks on end before a comment that had only made him laugh humorlessly to himself at the time rang so loudly through his dream that it woke him up well before dawn.

A name, a distant memory, and nine words guided him though decades of papers containing everything from secrets of the world to minutiae that had accumulated in his study. After hours of flipping through incidents best left forgotten in the corners of his mind, he finally hit upon two interesting entries. _The last name is correct,_ he mused, _but there is no mention of a daughter. She is the correct age, and perhaps it would not be out of the question to miss a useless toddler._ Scanning farther down the page, his eyes lit on a hopeful addendum noting that the husband had blamed Harry Potter personally for his wife's death, even going so far as to become a useful informant. He _and his daughter_ had moved to London, where he had been active in a cell. _Well, people always did have the most interesting reactions to things. She would be going into her seventh year. Perfect. Just in time._

A week later, the girl sloshed slowly through the light rain, on her way to the large gates that stood sentinel over an even larger house lit by the faint light of the full moon. It had all started with a cryptic owl a few nights ago that had delivered an unsigned letter to her bedroom window. The letter had only one line of neat script, and the owl had needed to tarry only the few minutes it had taken her to scrawl a reply. The next night a different owl had brought a set of instructions, including an untraceable Portkey, that had led her to this imposing mansion just after midnight. She still had no real idea what she would be expected to do, but the note had promised revenge, and that, thought the girl, was by far the most important thing.

A house elf in a drenched bed sheet met her at the gates and escorted her silently down the path and up the steps to the threshold of the house. As the girl passed through the doorway, she felt a spell draw the moisture from her clothes and hair, leaving her disheveled, but bone dry.

It was a quietly opulent house, of a different order than her own father's slightly grimy London flat. _No bedroom here has bins in the alley beneath the window, does it,_ thought the girl bitterly. The portraits on the walls spoke of a history other than hate, _no one sleeping in this house ever had to scrounge for their dinner, not with their father passed out on the couch. Every inch of it marble, velvet, or wood. Ridiculously beautiful. What he promised to pay me will buy me a new life anywhere I choose. Perhaps somewhere they've never heard of the name Harry Potter. Canada._ An ornate rug that she couldn't identify spread across the floor, thoughtlessly used as carpeting, and the house elf that still did not speak led her up the staircase to the left and down a long hallway to an open door that led into a darkly paneled study.

A man sat in a large chair on the far side of a desk fashioned of beautiful dark wood, his face in the shadows despite the moonlight streaming in through the window. He gestured the girl into a much smaller rather uncomfortable looking chair facing him, and she timidly sat down. The man leaned forward and placed his palms on the desk, bringing his face into the dim light. The girl's stomach dropped, as she suddenly realized where she was, and wondering if she was in way over her head.

Her thoughts swirled through her head as he began to speak. "I understand that you lost someone—someone close to you—in the little conflict a few years ago. This person had information that she refused to share when asked, and was killed for reticence, is that correct?"

The girl nodded as she remembered her mother's screams. Words—lies—torn from her pain-racked body that she did not know, could not tell them no matter what they did. The screams hadn't lasted very long that evil evening, but they still echoed in her dreams every few nights.

The wizard spoke in a soft voice as he outlined the offer to the girl. "I have a task that I am unable to complete myself or through my accustomed channels—one that you are uniquely placed to carry out. If you succeed in this task, I am prepared to give you several things that I am uniquely placed to give you. I will give you back your mother, and enough gold to allow your family to make a fresh start far from here. I hear New York is pleasant this time of year. Completing this task will give you the justice you seek, although a little patience will be required on your part. Those who wronged you will see their family ripped away from them, and suffer as you have suffered." The old wizard smiled silkily as he leaned back in his chair.

Shock that she tried desperately not to show crashed through the girl. It's just not possible, she thought in confusion. Everyone knows that you can't bring back the dead, but then again there could have been something to those crazy rumors from the end of last year. But even if there is only the slightest chance he can bring her back—and if anyone knew how, he would—I have to do it. Besides, with the amount of gold he is offering, I could do anything I wanted. She licked her lips and asked, "Exactly how much gold are you willing to pay me?"

The man looked at the girl squirming across from him, and smiled to himself. _It is always the gold, isn't it? Of all the things I offered her, the gold is what she wants most._ He waved a hand and a small open chest appeared on his desk between them. The gleam of gold erased any lingering resistance in her eyes, but he could not help himself when he asked, "Are you not curious about how I am going to bring your mother back from the dead?" Another wave of his hand returned the chest to his safe a hundred meters below the ground, ensconced in solid granite.

The glaze from seeing so much gold was slowly cleared from her eyes as she replied dazedly, "I don't actually think you can do it, but the gold and the revenge are enough. No one can work miracles." Her gaze flitted away from the man across the table.

The wizard reached into his robes, removed a folded square of paper from a concealed pocket, and passed the parcel into the girl's waiting hand. She unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on the desk. Her eyes flickered over the two images sketched, one above the other, on its surface. The first was a rough drawing of a ring with a little stone set into the band. The other was a rough map of a patch of shoreline, with a little promontory of land jutting out into the water. She recognized it immediately—the little spit of land that for most of the day was an island—and her heart sank. Her hopes of a simple request faded back into the depths of her mind. "This ring…it's inside? How do you expect me to open it? I heard after it was found open, ripped to pieces, it was enchanted so that no one would ever be able to get in again!"

The panic on her young face showed clearly, despite her feeble attempts to hide it, and the man let out an internal sigh. "You will have to remove the spells one at a time, but that shouldn't be too difficult for an intelligent young witch like you. To my knowledge no one has been to that island for a decade. I can offer you one piece of advice…approach from the west. The east is covered with ravines." Before she could ask any more troublesome questions or change her mind, the wizard rang a small bell and his house elf showed the girl out, despite her protestations. He rested his head on his hands for a moment before getting up to pace in front of the long row of windows.

 _How could it have come to this?_ his thoughts repeated in an endless loop. _Entrusting the future of everything in the shaking hands of a chance-met girl who had caught his attention only through an ill-thought comment. But what other choice do I have? She already caught me once, no excuse I could make would hold a second time. And those that I actually would trust, I cannot risk. If only that idiot Grindelwald had not lost the diary, this would not be necessary. Why did it have to be in the shadow of that damn castle?_

The wizard sank with a groan into his soft leather chair. _I have done what I can for the ring, and there are other items to acquire, most of them quite easily,_ he mused looking down at the list with six names and four items on it. _If the girl fails, once my comrades breathe again we can take the ring by force if necessary._


	2. Summer Correspondence

Summer Correspondence

Number 14 ½, Woodthrowe Lane, Godric's Hollow, was home to a very peculiar family. Two young children could be seen sitting on broomsticks, rather than holding them upright. One girl seemed to have steam blowing out of her ears, making her face as red as her hair. Another boy was holding out his hands to two owls, one with four envelopes tied to its feet, and the other holding a newspaper that if unrolled would be covered with moving pictures. The owl nipped at the boy until he paid the owl by slipping a coin into a soft leather pouch tied to its clawed foot. A pair of teenagers were gazing down into what looked like an armadillo hole. The tall boy stuck his hand down into it and pulled out what appeared to be a very ugly potato with limbs attached at uneven intervals. He laughed as he launched it across the lawn casually, acting as if this was a perfectly normal activity for a Sunday morning. This would have been a very odd scene for a muggle to see, if a muggle had been able to see it, of course.

Albus could be heard chatting excitedly in the kitchen from all the way upstairs. His feet were bouncing up and down on the floor, and then up the creaky stairs, causing quite a racket. James scowled as he looked up from his Potions homework. He was in a foul mood and there was still so much homework to be done. Of course, he had waited until the last few days of summer to even glance at it. James found himself rather troubled recently and could use a distraction, even if it were a dull one. As James's thoughts returned to his latest predicament, his door flew open admitting his brother, Albus. His eyes flashed with anticipation as he waved his arm excitedly, brandishing a letter in the air. James smiled at his brother's exuberance.

"Guess what came from Hogwarts today?" Albus sang.

"Well, I'm guessing not a toilet seat." James replied, ruffling Albus's mop of hair, tangling it even more.

Albus couldn't conceal his lopsided grin. He was looking forward to Hogwarts just as much as James had been the previous year. Maybe even more. James sincerely hoped he had not resembled an exploding lunatic when he had gotten the news of his acceptance, as his brother currently did. Albus had it down, even to the nervous laughter. He did a few energetic laps around the room before he started firing questions at James, apparently expecting the castle to have revealed all its secrets after only a year.

"Do you really have to fight a troll? Is the giant squid friendly? Is it poisonous? What should I pack? Has anyone ever died in the Forbidden Forest? Is the food as good as they sa-" Albus interrogated.

"Yes, sometimes, probably, I don't care, most likely and it's better. Now, if you ask me one more question I swear I'll tell the troll not to be gentle with you. We're on very good terms." James threatened.

Albus gulped nervously before darting from the room, his footsteps echoing on the stairs. Then, James heard them coming back up again and rolled his eyes. His door slammed open once more and Albus tossed a letter on James' bed.

"Almost forgot, one came for you, too."

James broke the seal gingerly, looking at his new letter and required items. He saw he'd be needing a more advanced standard spell book but other than that, must of the other required volumes were the same as last year's. His brother, however, would need to pick up the entire lot. While it was fun the first time, he didn't envy his brother. Last year, he'd had a rather unfortunate encounter with a set of vicious hemming pins and several seriously annoyed wands. Needless to say, he had no desire to relive the experience.

He was a little surprised his parents were even letting him go back at all…he had caused such a fuss last year. James had half thought he might be shipped off to Ilivermony or worse. He had heard his mother and father discussing it at the beginning of summer. They whispered about it and what to do with his new theory of the Dark Lord's fleeting return for the better part of an hour. They decided he had just wanted to do something important, like his father, and had landed himself in a bad situation. His father had agonized about whether waiting to tell him and Albus and Lily about the wars had been a good idea but in the end, they figured something like this had probably been inevitable no matter what they had done. At least it was over.

James was a little disappointed to see that Bel had not replied to his last letter yet. The unlikely confidants had been writing back and forth over the summer, trying to deduce where the missing pages from the Book of Necromancy were going to turn up. James hoped that his father, being the auror investigating the Jacob Zagyva case—he had died using a spell from the book—would eventually figure it out but if he had, he had kept it secure from all of the younger generation's snooping. Bel had not heard a thing from their snooping in the Malfoy Manor either. Halfway through the summer, everyone had become convinced it was probably no use, but they all continued to search regardless.

As the summer advanced, they began corresponding about other things that happened. James often telling Bel some funny prank he or Teddy had pulled, or Albus's latest antics. Bel was glad to hear from him, she, Scorpius, and Cat had been shut up in the Manor for most of the summer, and being nosy could only fill so many hours. She would send James news of Cat's newest skirt burning incident or something beef-headed that Scorpius had said or done. Both of them were glad to have some outside interaction, especially James who had been feeling rather isolated lately.

The summer had changed James's two best friends. Victoire and Teddy had started spending a great deal of time together, just the two of them. At first, James hadn't really noticed…the two had always been close. However, after the first two and a half weeks, the excuse of "herbology tutoring" just wasn't cutting it. James wasn't as thick as they thought. Maybe that was actually how it had started, but the dynamics between the two were rapidly changing. First it had been their little tutoring sessions, then it had evolved into private moments talking under the apple tree together. James had seen how happy they looked, laughing and smiling at each other without a care in the world. Recently, they had started disappearing for hours at a time, talking to each other in someone's room or taking long walks.

A few days ago, James had seen Teddy wrap his arm around Victoire, blushing madly. She'd grinned up at him, looking like it was Christmas morning. In that second, any doubts he had clung to evaporated, they fancied each other. At first, James had been happy for them. They made a decent couple. James still spent time with them, but they were too absorbed in their new relationship to really notice he was there. In fact, he could've thrown a pile of dung bombs at them, he doubted they would've lost the dreamy look. After a few days of this, he began to scheme ways to embarrass them in front of the adults. They had opened a giant can of worms in James's opinion, he didn't want to deal with the eventual break-up. Soon however, James began to feel lonely. They had hardly spent any time with him that summer and whenever they did, it felt uncomfortably different. James started to worry they would never have the same friendship again.

The loneliness never really left James, but soon he became bitter. He was angry at the two of them for leaving him out. He was angry at them for seemingly forgetting about him. Mostly, he was angry at them because they still hadn't bothered to tell him. It wasn't like he was an idiot, but they seemed to have no idea that he the slightest clue. It didn't look like they planned on telling him any time soon either.

James soon slid into a state of perpetual annoyance, being vexed had just taken too much energy. Writing to Bel had been his salvation, she was a wonderful person to vent to. For whatever reason, he felt like he could put every pent up aggression into his letters to her. She understood being left out as well as anyone, having been locked up in the Malfoy Manor for most of her life. They also had both grown up under a shroud of secrecy adults had smothered them under, keeping them from knowing much of anything. Speaking of the adults, none of them knew about Victoire and Teddy yet. They had all been too busy to notice. As James finally managed to return to his Potions essay, his door burst open for the third time in a span of ten minutes. He was starting to understand how the Fat Lady must feel.

Teddy appeared in the doorway. "Dress robes? James! They're making me get dress robes this year! They weren't on Torie's list, I was wondering if they're on yours."

James shook his head. He was glad he did not need the things, he had heard one too many horror stories from Uncle Ron.

"Well then, I reckon they're for the Solstice Ball since it's fourth years and above."

James nodded, still not speaking. Teddy smiled, proud to be entering his fourth year at Hogwarts. Teddy, James, and Victoire were so close at school that he often forgot they were all in different years. This summer alone, Teddy, who was already tall for his age, seemed to have shot up two inches. Victoire had grown a little as well but not as noticeably. She had always been beautiful, in the way that made other girls jealous.

"You all right mate?" Teddy asked turning his hair green. James gritted his teeth. "I'm fine."

Teddy raised a lime green eyebrow. "All right, if you say so."

In that moment, he was glad Teddy had left. He was starting to lose patience with the pair of them. When were they going to bother to tell him? What else were they keeping from him? He began to wonder if they really wanted him around anymore. It certainly didn't feel like it.

Yet again, James's bedroom door opened. At least it wasn't quite as violent this time as the previous three attempts at entry. In the door was his mother, a smudge of dirt on her nose. She smiled gently at him as she took a seat at the foot of his bed.

At least she's happy to see me, he thought.

Ginny stuck out her hand. "This just came for you."

James tried to grin. "Thanks." James stood up to leave, his Potions homework already forgotten, suddenly feeling that the walls of his room were closing in.

"Who have you been writing to so secretively?" his mother asked. "Should I worry? Do you have some girlfriend you haven't told us about? You know, if that's it, we'll find out eventually!"

"No." James laughed dryly. _If only you knew the half of it._

James's bad mood persisted all the way down the stairs, through the hall, and all the way out to the back lawn. It seemed Teddy had gone back to de-gnoming and moved behind the house. There was just one gnome left. James was just too riled up to let this opportunity go to waste. He slipped the letter in his trouser pocket and took the last gnome left by its feet, swung it with a vicious strength, and chucked it as far as he could. It wailed in protest. He waved while he watched it fly away.

Teddy whistled, "Nothing's a better solution for anger than watching a gnome fly." Teddy morphed his face to resemble that of a gnome and James couldn't help but laugh. Between the gnome and Teddy's remarkably potato-like face, his bad mood was temporarily forgotten.

James seated himself under an apple tree in the yard and pulled out Bel's letter. The envelope carried his name in Bel's handwriting, though it was sloppier than usual. The quill marks were scratchy and blended between letters, making it appear as if Bel had sent it in a hurry. It read:

Dear James,

I'm sorry to report that barely anything has happened since my last letter. Your letters and Cat's new attempts at arson have been our most reliable sources of excitement here at the manor. Since I wrote you last, Scorp decided it was a good idea to shove a load of peppermint imps in his mouth at once. It was not a good idea. Cat then decided to try and outdo him. It was an even worse idea. I have barely seen Uncle Lucius, Aunt Narcissa, or Uncle Draco this week. I assume that Uncle Lucius is spending a great heap of time traveling and in his study but I am not sure of the other two. All conversations they have are behind closed doors and have become even more secretive. I think they actually caught on to us, because they charm the doors behind them so we can't hear their conversations.

Letters from Hogwarts must be coming out any day now. Until then, we wait. I imagine we might go and get our new supplies the day after we get our letters but I'm not sure. The adults may go without us. So, with luck I'll see you at Diagon Alley and if not then, we'll all try to meet in the back corner of the platform.

See you soon, Bel

Bel paced around her room. She had almost gotten caught! It was getting harder and harder to send letters to James. She'd already been almost caught in the act, this was the third time. If it was anyone else, even another Gryffindor, it would probably be different, but it was James Potter who shared her secret. And Uncle Lucius would implode if he found out about the letter let alone that all of the Potters had figured out who she was at the end of last year. She wondered if the Potters would've cared but did not know much about them. Of course, she knew the stories about Harry Potter, any educated witch or wizard would, although she had been forced to find them out piecemeal last year. She had even met him one afternoon but from the impression she made, she wasn't sure he'd want her hanging around with his son anyway. They had not met in good circumstances, to say the least.

The last two times she was caught she said she was writing to her fictitious friend, Rina, but she felt that they were growing suspicious. She always had to scrawl his name on the envelope at the last minute, a nerve wracking process. This was yet another reason she was looking forward to next term starting so soon. The professors actually encouraged friendships between the houses.

The inhabitants of the Malfoy Manor had never been more secretive. They hadn't been able to find out anything at all. Even the summer meeting of the ex-Death Eaters had failed to happen. It was almost as if they had halted their mission until the children returned to school. But this couldn't be true, the elder Malfoys were barely ever seen, meaning the children were often confined to their rooms, the tutoring annex, and the dining hall. Bel felt the effects of extreme boredom inside the huge, empty house. All three of them had finished their homework for the summer within the first week, so there was just nothing to do. James's letters had been the highlight of their summer. Often Bel read them aloud in the garden.

James's letters, besides being the only contact the three had with the outside world, was their best source of entertainment. He was a very comical prankster and seemed to be constantly in some sort of trouble. Bel was surprised how much he shared in the letters and when reading them to Cat and Scorpius, often left some parts out that she wasn't sure he would want read by others. Bel didn't know why she did this, it just felt like it was the right thing to do.

Bel felt bad about his being in the middle of the Teddy and Victoire situation. She understood what it was like to be the odd man out. At least he had a family to fall back on, not to say she didn't love the Malfoys or anything. They were family technically —aunts and cousins—but it just wasn't the same. Bel continued to be astonished with his openness when he shared how he felt about the situation. Bel enjoyed being the one to know what was going on for once. She felt that she knew him now, at least a little bit. This was something she was nervous for when the term started. She didn't know how things would go when they went back. Would they even speak to each other? Would they be friends now? Cat and Scorpius seemed just as nervous as she was.

Cat was currently lying face down on Bel's bed. Her brown hair flared out around her as she made an annoyed noise that was muffled by Bel's mattress. Cat was taking their confinement worse than Bel. She had grown accustomed to freedom after her year at Hogwarts, it was hard to return to their little world agin. She longed for any excuse to leave their rooms, even if it would get them stuck in them until the end of the summer. Cat just couldn't take another second of board games and rehashing the same arguments.

Cat turned over on Bel's bed. Her Persian, Snowball, nipped gently at her feet. Her fluffy tail sent a shower of white hair onto Bel's black silk sheets. She wished she could repel the hair with magic but she very well knew she was not allowed to use magic over the summer, and had decided charming her sheets were not worth the risk of using the loophole she had found last year. This proved to be the bane of her existence.

Cat growled. "I just want to burn the bloody idio-"

"Ouch!" Scorpius howled.

Cat had accidentally rolled off the bed and landed on, Scorpius who had been napping on a fluffy rug. He groaned in protest and clutched his stomach where she had accidentally elbowed him. He looked a little green.

"Sorry Scorp." Cat whispered gently.

Scorpius sent her a deathly glare but she could tell he wasn't really mad. Cat giggled, not finding his glare even the slightest bit menacing. She actually thought he looked more constipated than fearsome. Bel tried not to, but failed, clutching her stomach as she howled with laughter. Scorpius grunted and stalked off into his own room.

After much coaxing, they managed to make Scorpius join them again. They busied themselves with a game of Exploding Snap. Fortunately, it was an unusually long game and lasted the better part of an hour. In the end, Scorpius won, lifting his spirits considerably. He then became engrossed in a copy of Quidditch Weekly, and transitioned into a long and incredibly dull rant about broomstick handles that Cat and Bel only half listened to. Bel and Cat were just about to start another game when Astoria entered the room.

"Hello, children." She beamed, handing each one a letter. "These came today and I thought you might like to see your new lists. Lucius and Narcissa will take you into Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow."

She kissed Scorpius on the cheek before exiting and then made her way down the hall. Though there was only a minuscule number of new items to be retrieved, the three were overjoyed by any excuse to leave their confinement. They beamed at each other delightedly, cheering, as a card exploded by Bel's foot. She couldn't wait for the following day.

Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor had always been a Potter family favorite. While their parents were off doing some routine shopping, the Potter children, including the cousins Rose, Hugo, Victoire and Teddy (as always) were enjoying a break with their new supplies in parcels at their feet. Albus and Rose were admiring their new wands and chatting under their breath about how excited they were for the coming term. Victoire was focusing on her new books, Homelife and Social Habits of British Muggles: Updated Edition! Now featuring Modern Muggle Technology and Slang by Wilhelm Wigworthy for Muggle Studies and All About Ancient Runes: Dictionary, Translations, and Extensions by Gonnorick Gorenhall (which was bigger than her head), and All About Hieroglyphics and Logograms Gonnorick Gornehall for Ancient Runes.

James neglected his dripping cone of Triple Chocolate Crunch ice cream as his eyes wandered towards a beautiful broomstick that was calling to him from a store window. It was a relatively new make, a Windbreaker. The particular model he was oggling was the astoundingly sensitive Windbreaker 2.0. His eyes practically glazed over as he imagined flaunting it inside the Gryffindor Common Room. He wanted a new broom more than anything. He currently shared a household one with his two siblings which was an outdated Clean Sweep. He knew he wouldn't be able to bring it to Hogwarts. His parents were no help either. He had never been allowed to so much as touch either of their Firebolts.

The more James longed for the new broom, the more he could imagine himself riding it, all the way to the House Cup. From the corner of his eye, James could see Teddy admiring it too. Although he actually owned a broom, it paled in comparison. James noticed that Teddy and Victoire's chairs had been pushed close together. Their knees brushed under the table and their hands hovered exceedingly close to each other. James scoffed.

"What's up with you, James?" Teddy asked. "The two of you, that's what." James lowered his voice. "Trying to act all secretive. Look, elf's caught the sock, I already know you two fancy each other. It's obvious."

Both Victoire and Teddy turned crimson. They were frozen in the hot summer air. They looked like they were about to start projectile vomiting blast-ended skrewts. "How'd you know? How long?" asked Teddy.

James scoffed again. "It doesn't matter. I just picked up on things. And since the first-second week of summer."

Victoire turned to James. "Oh no, you're mad. Teddy, I knew he'd be mad! Please, try to understa-" James cut her off. "I'm only mad because you gits didn't tell me. You know how annoying it's been? You guys running off without me all summer? I don't care if you guys get all cozied up and act all couple-like around me. It's better than not seeing you guys at all. Marginally."

Teddy focused on the ground, looking guilty. Victoire spoke in a low mumble. "I'm really sorry James. I thought you would be upset about us. Well, I guess you are now, but that was our fault. Please don't stay mad." Victoire looked into his eyes. She looked so sorry, and so did Teddy. He felt a tight knot in his chest being released. He could only stay angry at his best friends for so long. "Alright, alright, I haven't actually been mad for a while. Just don't pull anything like that again. I'll help keep everyone put off it, just don't keep me out, okay?"

This time it was Teddy who spoke. "Thanks. Sorry again, mate. Should've known we couldn't get anything past you." He winked. James saw Victoire and Teddy intertwine their fingers under the table. James winked back, knowing things would be different now but hoping it would be for the best.

Bel, Cat, and Scorpius wound their way through Diagon Alley. They had finished their necessary shopping and had been sent away by Lucius and Narcissa who went to talk to some business correspondents in The Three Broomsticks, something they would have desperately liked to hear. The triad took to the street, meandering through the stalls, looking at all the enticing things to buy. Scorpius was holding a large sack of gold filled with a very small portion of his inheritance. Though he had his own broom, his eyes swept to them wherever they went. It was an old child's broom and besides, Scorpius didn't believe in having too many brooms.

Cat busied herself with a wand cleaning kit, comparing it to another model she'd seen last year. She scowled as this one, it did not have the same polish as the one she had seen last time. She moved on to looking at cosmetic potions, one for hair regrowth was stocked closest to the front. The bottle showed an ugly old hag with flowing blonde locks down to her ankles. When Cat and Bel saw this, they collapsed into a fit of laughter. Next to that potion was one that caught Bel's eye. It was a silver substance in a small blue vial. It said hair tamer.

Bel's dark disorder of hair was the farthest thing from tame. Her curls often swallowed small household objects, including brushes and combs. She picked up the blue vial and brought it to the front of the stall. A young witch who was very pretty read the vial and then looked Bel up and down. She looked just like a person who would run a cosmetics line, with perfect hair, makeup and the most stylish robes on the market. She handed the clerk a few silver coins to pay and the clerk gave her a bag. "Nice choice," she whispered.

Bel trudged back to where Scorpius was now attempting to buy Dungbombs. As he was about to pay, Cat and Bel shared a look. Bel held Scorpius back as Cat extracted the weapon of nasal destruction and carefully put it back in the stack.

Scorpius looked enraged. "What was that for?"

Cat's face carried a look of wariness. "Because, as much as I love some good mayhem, I like the current smell of our common room more. Especially because when Filch finds out about this, your guts will be splattered all over the corridors."

Scorpius whined. "CAT! NO! Don't cross over to the side of reason! That's what we have Bel for. We can't afford to lose you, such a crucial member of whimsicality."

Bel grinned evilly and looped her arm around Cat's. "Sorry Scorp but seeing you desperate is just too much fun. I'm afraid we'd better lie low for a while."

Scorpius searched the streets, looking for the large gang of Potters and Weasleys. He wasn't actually sure if they were going to be there…they hadn't had time to send a return owl. As the three had nothing left to buy and were done with their light—and potentially foul-smelling—shopping, they went to search for James, Teddy, and Victoire. After dissuading Scorpius from both his attempts to buy a portable swamp and to enter Knocturn Alley, they found themselves outside an ice cream parlor. They couldn't believe their luck when they saw a boy with bright purple hair waving to them. Bel noticed that Teddy and Victoire were sitting very close together and she grinned.

"How's the happy couple?" Bel whispered.

James positively beamed at Bel. Teddy and Victoire, however, found this far from entertaining. They turned bright red and subconsciously moved farther apart, looking around frantically to make sure none of the younger additions of the family heard.

Victoire glowered at James accusingly. "You told her?"

James held his hand over his mouth, pretending to look guilty. "Oops!"

Cat shrieked. "I KNEW IT! I knew it! I knew it! Scorpius, pay up!"

At this point, Scorpius looked from Teddy to Victoire, and down at their twined hands and sunk down in the wicker chair. Cat nudged Scorpius, putting a hand on her hip and holding the other one out in front of her. Cat looked quite pleased as Scorpius rolled his eyes and emptied five galleons into her hand. Cat was waving her winnings in all of their faces when a tall man made his way toward them.

Lucius was not happy, to say the least, when he saw who Bel, Cat, and Scorpius were fraternizing with. He forced a cruel smile onto his face as he strode over to them. His eyes flitted from James and Albus first, then to Lily and the other Weasley children. "Do I see two Potters? And what a surprise! Oh look how many Weasleys! It seems that history has repeated itself. Your family has always had more children than could be…well…financially supported."

Lilly rolled her eyes, resigned to being being grouped with her cousins instead of her elder brothers. Victoire looked offended, clearly not pleased with the man's assumptions about her family, although unsure if she had been included in the statement or not. She was usually not confrontational, so it came as a surprise when she stood. She had a dangerous look on her face. "You must be Lucius Malfoy. Don't you worry. I assure you, we get along just fine. Mr. Malfoy, why don't you sit down? You aren't looking well… I'm sure no one would think any lesser of you if you took a brief minute to relax." She offered her chair to him.

Bel was fairly certain she saw a vein popping on her uncle's forehead. For a brief moment he looked murderous, but he quickly changed his expression. Scorpius realized the fingers he used to clutch his walking stick were white. "Thank you for your concern, Dear, but I assure you that a rest will not be necessary. I have come to collect these three." Lucius pointed to them with his cane. "Come along now, children. We must be getting on our way. Say goodbye to your…friends."

Scorpius, Cat, and Bel, slightly embarrassed by their guardian's behavior, waved sheepishly as they scrambled down the alley. The family waved to them, all slightly taken aback. Teddy muttered some nasty words under his breath and Victoire burned a hole in the back of Lucius's head until he disappeared from sight.


	3. An Illicit Meeting

An Illicit Meeting

The night before leaving to catch the Hogwarts Express, Bel retrieved her bottle of hair potion from where she had been saving it at the back of her dresser drawer. The parchment strip glued to the bottle contained directions written in minuscule smudged handwriting, and she plopped down on her bed to decipher it. "Wet hair…carefully pour…something drops…onto moist cloth…rug…no rub cloth over hair…let dry overnight," she muttered. That seems easy enough, but I probably better use a lot, my hair is impossible.

After her shower, Bel took her washcloth and dumped half of the little bottle onto it. "Looks fine so far," Bel smushed the cloth together, and then began rubbing it vigorously into her sopping hair. After a few seconds, it began to get harder, until the potion had congealed into a wax-like mess all over her head. Neither soap nor attacking it with her comb made any difference whatsoever. In fact, several tines broke off the comb and became stuck in the wax. Bel looked at her reflection in the floor length mirror. A pixielike girl stared back at her. It had her own pale face and green eyes, but its curly black hair was stuck in gravity defying positions, and refused to move an inch. If it's still like this by morning, I'll just have to hope that Aunt Astoria can get it off. But there's still a chance that it'll work. I probably just used too much.

The first ray of sunlight hit Bel's eyes and she rolled over and groaned before remembering what day it was and sitting up in bed with a jolt. She grinned when she saw her reflection in the mirror on top of her dresser. The waxy substance was gone, although her hair was so matted against her head it was impossible to tell whether or not the Hair Taming Potion had worked. Bel began to work her comb through her hair, careful not to scratch her head with the broken bits. Sure enough, her hair fell straight and thick with just a hint of wave in the wake of the brush.

Not bothering to get dressed, Bel flew out of her room and began to bang on Cat's door. After a solid minute of unearthly racket, her friend blearily opened the door. She stared blankly at Bel for a few moments before jumping backwards with a sharp yelp.

"How do you like it?" Bel asked breathlessly, shaking her straightened tresses and grinning at her shocked friend.

Cat considered Bel for a few moments before speaking. "It certainly is different…you look a little closer to your real age than you usually do. More like a third year. You're not planning to try to do this everyday, are you?" It certainly makes you look less like Her but more like HIM. Not sure if that's a good thing. Not sure if they're going to let you go to the station like that.

Bel laughed delightedly, spinning in front of her friend. "It's way too much work to do every day, but I have to admit it's probably the only day I can remember that I ever managed to get all the tangles out!" She raced past a sandy-eyed Scorpius who had been driven out of bed to investigate the noise, and stood blinking at her in confusion before retreating back behind his door. Bel threw on some clothes before dragging her already jammed-to-the-gills trunk unthinkingly down the stairs. She was the first one at breakfast, other than Saeth who refused to comment on her hair even when asked point blank.

"Mistress looks beautiful every day, of course," Saeth stubbornly replied as she served Bel scrambled eggs and sausage.

Cat and Scorpius joined her soon afterward, and they had nearly finished by the time any of the adults deigned to come down, barely half an hour before they were due to leave for King's Cross Station. Aunt Astoria arrived first as usual, and laughed with delight when she caught sight of Bel. "You straightened your hair! It looks wonderful dear, just the way to start off the new school year." She swept around the table to where Bel sat before enveloping her with an apple scented hug. "Is it perhaps for a special someone?" She whispered conspiratorially, "Don't worry I wouldn't tell a soul!"

Bel turned slightly pink and shook her head, her concentration suddenly absorbed by the last scraps of eggs on her plate. Scorpius and Cat burst out laughing and proceeded to derive great enjoyment from speculating on their friend's secret crush. Prime suspects included The Bloody Baron and Peeves.

Uncle Draco trailed in only a few minutes behind his wife and took the chair next to her. Although he did not join in the fun, Bel could have sworn he hid a few smiles behind his copy of the Daily Prophet. Their merriment was interrupted by the arrival of Aunt Narcissa who dropped her teacup upon seeing Bel and promptly rushed out of the room. Saeth stopped refilling the pitcher of Pumpkin Juice and had fished almost all of the china shards out of the thick rug before Aunt Narcissa returned accompanied by Uncle Lucius.

Uncle Lucius took one look at Bel and sighed, shaking his head, before sinking into the chair at the head of the table. Bel attempted an innocent smile, but it did not want to stick under his rueful gaze. "What have you done to your hair?" he asked calmly, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"She straightened it. Isn't it wonderful!" Aunt Astoria replied oblivious to the sudden tension in the air.

Still looking calmly at Bel, never sparing Astoria even a glance, Uncle Lucius continued speaking. "I can see that she straightened it, I am trying to find out how."

Bel felt her stomach attempt to hide behind her spine. She wasn't sure why everyone except Aunt Astoria was so concerned, but that wasn't exactly comforting. "I bought it from one of the stalls in Diagon Alley. Extra-Strength Hair Tamer. I thought it might make it a bit more manageable."

Uncle Lucius said nothing but raised his eyebrows as he turned to look at Aunt Narcissa who was standing behind his chair looking a little paler than usual. "It's impossible to remove. It just has to wear off. Thankfully it only takes about a day."

"You'll just have to go as you are," Uncle Lucius proclaimed. "Is there any left?"

"About half the bottle," Bel muttered.

A few moments later the little bottle streaked down the staircase and landed in the coals with a little puff of silver smoke. No one spoke for the rest of breakfast. While the trunks and cages were being loaded into the back of the Mercedes, Bel sat on the back bench seat between Cat and Scorpius.

"Would someone please explain to me why everyone acted as if I had decided to shave my head this morning?" Bel asked, confusion and frustration boiling over.

"It's not that it looks bad or anything," Cat began cautiously. "It actually looks quite good but…did you look in the mirror this morning?"

"Of course I did!" Bel snapped. "It looks straight. Or at least as close as I'm ever likely to get. Even the Extra-Strength one didn't get rid of all of the wave."

"That might be part of the problem…" Cat trailed off, not quite sure how to continue.

"What Cat is trying to get at is that you don't look like Bellatrix anymore. Congratulations. Now you look like him. They're all scared that someone will notice…well, everyone but my mother."

Bel sat quietly for a moment, watching the adults talk nervously outside the windows. "Shite."

"It should wear off by tomorrow," Cat said hopefully. "Just try not to talk to any of the Professors or anything till then. Not like anyone our age will notice. Except the Gryffindors, but they know already."

Bel had started to turn a pale shade of green. "I'm not so sure about that. I used over half a bottle. Way more than I should have. It would probably work on normal hair for weeks." Bel began to laugh. "This is probably the only time in my entire life I will be grateful for having hair that refuses to obey the rules of nature."

Soon, Cat and Scorpius had joined her and the car shook with laughter that could not be quelled even by Uncle Lucius's glares and dark protestations about taking the situation seriously.

The first crisp red leaves of autumn were beginning to fall on the first of September. The inevitable chaos of getting so many children's trunks packed in the car, and the children themselves settled in the seats was only intensified by the addition of Albus and Rose. It was impossible to keep the confusion safely contained in their separate houses and it inevitably spread out into the quiet side street in Godric's Hollow. Belongings always migrated over the summer, and it seemed as if any item forgotten until the last minute had been left in a different house than its owner resided in.

This phenomenon was particularly intense this year, as, unbeknownst to their guardians, the playroom in the attic of the Potter's house had been quietly converted into a clandestine meeting spot. While the series of meetings and verifiable flurries of owls had not actually uncovered anything new about the curious events of the previous school year, they had served to make the shaky partnership slightly more stable. This new camaraderie between the older and younger children had not escaped their parents' notice, but they had been forced to bemusedly conclude that the trauma had caused the older children to take notice of their younger kin, which was-all in all-not a bad outcome.

As usual, the Potters were the last to leave, pulling out of the drive ten minutes behind Ron and Hermione, fifteen behind Bill and Fleur, and a full half hour after Andromeda had come to collect Teddy. Even with all three siblingsand two owl cagesin the backseat, it was not crowded, as the bench was nearly twice as wide as it had any right to be. It was also twice as loud, as James was debating his brother's sorting prospects causing Lily to laugh uproariously.

"You'll never make Ravenclaw…Lily might…but you and I don't have the brains put together," said James grinning broadly.

"I helped with that riddle…" muttered Albus, his cheeks heating up.

"Your skills of reading put us all to shame," smirked James. "Hufflepuff. You could go to Hufflepuff. They'll take anyone! Think of it, sitting around the common room fire for seven years, singing and holding hands. You'd have such a great time!"

Albus sunk further into the cushions of his seat. "That's not fair! Some of the D.A. was in Hufflepuff, right Dad?"

Harry grunted from the front seat, fully engrossed in the London traffic. Ginny looked up momentarily from her notes on the last Quidditch match to reply, "Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot. Several others. There's no shame in being a Hufflepuff. All four houses pull together when it really counts. Even the Slytherins fought in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Albus leaned across Lily toward his brother. "See! I bet you're just taking the micky out of me because the Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Hufflepuff, and you had to beg! Wait, no I bet it wanted to put you in Slytherin!"

James grinned wider than the Cheshire Cat. "Slytherin, now there's an idea. You might be in Slytherin! Live underground and have the color leeched out of you! Perhaps you'll turn into a ghost. You just never know what the Hat'll do. Totally unpredictable."

Albus looked slightly green but managed to retort, "Even I know you don't turn into a ghost by living underground. Really James what did you do all last year…moon over some girl?" just before the car pulled to the curb outside of King's Cross and he jumped out of the car before James could grab him.

Shoving their trunks and owls onto trollies, the two brothers walked at the head of their family, still bickering. A few steps behind them walked their parents and sister, engrossed in their own world and surrounded by the swirling mass of muggles moving around them.

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.

"A whole year," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now! I'm gonna miss so much…"

Harry laughed, grinning at the misunderstood dismay on his daughter's face. "The castle will still be there, I promise."

Lily sighed, muttering "It's not the castle I'm worried about missing out on," too low for her father to hear.

The owls perched in cages on top of red leather trunks drew several curious glances from muggles, and a few squeals from young children. But on the whole the little party was ignored in the bustle of the busy station. Most of the inhabitants were simply too busy with their own cares to spare more than a passing thought for the unusual. As they approached the barrier between platforms nine and ten, a lull in the crowd allowed the renewed strains of their sons' argument to drift back to Harry and Ginny's ears.

"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slytherin."

But upon seeing his mother's warning glare he fell silent. The family approached the barrier, taking advantage of the break in muggle traffic caused by the departure of the Edinburgh train to cross inconspicuously. Tossing a cocky grin at his brother over his shoulder, James adjusted his grip on his trolly and tilted at the barrier. The bricks rippled momentarily at his passage before returning to their apparently solid state.

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalizing on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

"Not every day," said Albus quickly, "James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

Walking beside Albus toward the barrier Lily hissed in his ear, "You'd better write me and Hugo about what's really going on-not just the stuff you tell Mum and Dad!"

Albus grunted as he pushed his trolly faster, following his parents toward the bricks. Lily ran alongside his trolley before darting ahead at the last minute to pass through with Ginny. Albus squeezed his eyes shut an instant before he hit the bricks, but instead of the impact he dreaded, he encountered a wall of noise. Great puffs of steam screamed out of the scarlet engine. An enormous crowd milled about within the steam, and sparks hung occasionally in the heavy mist.

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

The thick water vapor muffled voices and obscured faces, making it hard to really see anyone standing more than ten feet away. Detached from their owners, voices bounced around the platform, and snatches of conversations mingled together in the air. Somewhere Percy had found someone to listen to broomstick regulations, and the Potters hurried past, hidden in the mist.

"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Although their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them, the flaming red hair of three of the figures stood out like beacons.

"Hi," said Albus, immensely relieved to have found at least one of the people he was supposed to be meeting on the train.

Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him. She leaned closer to whisper, "Bel is only one carriage down, but I haven't seen anyone else, have you?"

Albus shook his head. "James ran through the barrier ahead, I haven't seen him since."

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confound the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train. "I only forgot to look in the wing mirror,

and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

While their parents had been occupied with catching up, Lily and Hugo had been commiserating about how much they were likely to miss being stuck at home an extra year. "Think about it, someone has those pages that we couldn't find. I doubt they were just planning to sell them to Flourish and Blotts," Lily fumed. "And whatever happens, a Knut says that it'll happen at Hogwarts. Everything happens there!"

"Yeah," replied Hugo looking at the ground. We should read the paper or something. Try to see if anything strange is happening."

Lily looked thoughtful. "That's actually a good idea. Everyone always jokes about me ending up in Ravenclaw, but maybe it'll be you instead!"

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed nervously, relieved that their parents had only heard the last bit, but Albus and Rose looked solemn. Sorting just hit a little close to home at the moment.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione, and Ginny nodded encouragingly, but Ron was no longer paying attention. Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is," commented Ron, distaste showing on his face.

Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair had receeded somewhat, even since the end of last year, which emphasized the pointed chin. Scorpius resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again. Albus caught sight of Bel through the mist just beyond the Malfoys, standing near Lucius and Cat. He noticed something was off about her hair, but the gap in the mist closed before he could be sure of what it was.

"So there's Scorpius, so nice to see him again," said Ron under his breath his eyes narrowed. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "They're not even in the same year, don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right…sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, especially after everything that happened last year, Rosie. I met your mother fighting a troll, and Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

"That's not how it happened, Ronald," Hermione said with a long suffering look.

"Hey!"

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam.

"Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing -"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron —"

With the adults sufficiently distracted, James quietly relayed the rest of the story. "I met Teddy, Victoire and Bel in the back corner like we'd planned. Scorpius and Cat couldn't get away. Teddy's got a reserved sign on compartment 713, we're all meeting there as soon as we can. It's best if the adults don't see us getting on together."

James saw the adults begin to look at them curiously so he continued in a loud voice, "— and then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" added Lily ecstatically, catching on to the game. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week, and then stays the night," said Harry. "He already has a bed in James' room. What more is required to be a part of the family, Lily?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al-Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished. It's bad enough when I have you and Teddy on bunkbeds."

Harry checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"

"But you know Neville-"

James rolled his eyes. "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love. . . ."

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a jab at Albus. "See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

"I thought they were invisible. You said they were invisible!"

James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug, and then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things. There's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats with Rose."

Ginny kissed Albus good-bye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you've learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

"What if James is right? What if I'm in Slytherin?"

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was almost level with his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes, although there was a touch of green in his sister's.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and he knew that she would be tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who had just boarded the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say-"

"-then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. "I think the Hat always takes your choice into account if it is truly important to you. If you really need to be in Gryffindor, you will." But now the doors were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarmed forward for final kisses andlast-minute reminders. Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed.

Albus and Rose walked down carriage five, fighting their way through the crowds of students and billows of magic to compartment 713. "Imagine doing this with no place to go!" Albus shouted over the roar that reverberated through the train.

Rose turned to look at another group of beleaguered first years fighting their way upstream and nodded furiously in agreement. "Didn't Teddy say they just added more carriages? Imagine what it must have been like before! there isn't really room for more than half of us as it is."

Albus grunted, then laughed without humor as he saw the little group seek shelter in one of the door alcoves. The four watched the chaos rush past them with glazed eyes.

"I wish we could invite them to come with us…" Rose said, looking unhappy.

"We can't and you know it!" Albus said vehemently.

"I know, I know, but it's still sad." Rose replied as they crossed into carriage six. It only took a few more minutes to find 713, and it indeed had the promised sign affixed to the door. The cousins slipped gratefully inside.

The youngest were the last to arrive and they found the compartment already filled to bursting. The bench seats weren't really supposed to hold more than three people apiece, and squeezing two more people onto them was an unpleasant process. Even the luggage rack groaned in protest at the magical addition of two more trunks.

Albus ended up sitting across from his brother, and next to a girl with long black hair that he didn't recognize for a few seconds. "You're Bel right? Forgive me if I'm losing my marbles, but I would have sworn that you had curly hair. Like really curly hair."

Bel sighed. "I do. I straightened it last night. It didn't really go as I planned though."

She was cut short by James shouting loudly over the several smaller conversations that had been filling the small space. "I'd love to just sit here and catch up but I think it's obvious to everyone that we can't spend the entire ride like this. It was uncomfortable with six last year and we've got two extra and the rest of us are a year older. Unless anyone can do an Extension Charm, let's do this quickly so we can find another compartment before they're all gone!" This was met by relieved murmurs of assent. "Anyone find anything that they didn't want to put in a letter?"

"Not really," Bel replied. "Nothing that you could put your finger on, but something is going on. Uncle Lucius is never home, and they didn't have that meeting over the summer, you know the one with everyone who stayed out of Azkaban? I was thinking earlier that the only reason that they wouldn't is if they were meeting somewhere else."

"That can't possibly be good for us…" Teddy trailed off from his position squashed against the window.

"No," agreed Scorpius grimly, "especially as we have no idea what's going on. They haven't said anything to us about…the incident…and I would bet anything that my Grandfather knows. We didn't tell them, and McGonagall didn't want to involve him, but still."

"Oh he knows," Bel stated. "I don't know how Uncle Lucius gets his information, but he seems to know about things almost before they happen. If I had to guess I'd say he's trying to find the pages, but there's not really any way to be sure. He's gone all the time, so he's definitely looking for something…What about you? Auror department find anything?"

"Dad's been remarkably tight lipped. You normally can't get him to shut up about work but nothing about anything good. It's like he knows deep down that something about this one doesn't add up but won't admit it to himself." James slumped back into his seat, not looking very happy.

"We even sicced Lily on him. Normally she can get Dad to do just about anything," Albus moaned. "But he actually told her to stop fishing."

"I don't think Dad has even told Mum anything," James added grimacing. "We tried eavesdropping."

"In other words we are exactly where we started at the beginning of the summer. In other words, nowhere," Teddy stood and stretched. "Unless anyone has anything brilliant to add, I suggest we continue this in a few days when we actually have room to breathe."

Scorpius fished a Galleon out of his pocket, holding it over the rocking floor of the compartment. "Heads we stay, tails we leave, that good with everyone?" Hearing no complaints, he tossed it into the air where it wheeled a few times before clattering to the floor, luckily not rolling under the seats. He stared morosely at the side glittering up at them before sighing, "Come on guys, we can probably kick a few first years out of a compartment or something." The Slytherin rescued the coin from the floor before hauling open the door to the compartment so that Bel and Cat could wriggle out.

Albus stood up so that this maneuver was even possible, and found himself standing across from his brother's grinning face.

"Planning to join your future housemates, Albus?" said James grinning broadly.

"You know what James? I think I will," Albus retorted forcefully before passing a startled but laughing Scorpius on the way out, leaving James behind with a look of bemusement plastered onto his face.

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